|  After finishing the 5th harvest, in which I had participated a bit during my visit to the winery last month, Krishna Prasad and Uma Chigurupati (the name KRSMA is synthesized from their first names), the owners and the Guinness Book of Record holder Marathon Couple, were seemingly relaxed and happy with the decision of launching in Bangalore and the time when they did. The boutique winery produces super-premium wines which cost as much as Rs.1500 for their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon and as low as Rs. 750 for the Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay and Sangiovese are priced at Rs.1000.
People at the launch seemed to enjoy the wines served with delicious snacks and the 5-course meal crafted by the celebrity Executive Chef Jolly (of Junior Master Chef Judge Fame) and executed by his highly motivated team. At least, that’s what the guests indicated with the show of hands. Privately, many of them admitted-some sheepishly, others proudly, that they would not serve Indian wines in their homes.
They would not be an isolated example. But it may not be long before they change their opinion when the New Yorkers start drinking and appreciating the wines. Krishna has a game plan that is not a straight line but as contoured as the undulating slopes of his vineyard, which is one of the several factors that help him produce wines that may help change the impression of many such people about Indian wines.
He has always worked in a ‘zara hatke’ style, even in his core business and has succeeded when others expected him to fail. ‘He will go bankrupt, is what I used to hear people muttering under the breath when I set up a huge plant for making bulk drugs in Hyderabad,’ says Krishna. Today that business has become a Rs.1200 crore (Rs. 12 billion) pharmaceutical empire where he exports bulk drugs to several international, renowned corporations, many of which are direct competitors of each other.
 Krishna did not fully spell out his strategy at the launch but for now he plans to concentrate on the retail market of Bangalore with Modern Retail outlets like Madhuloka, Dropz and Classic Alcobev selling the wines, followed by a foray in the on-trade. His next marketing destination is New York where he has already hired staff to handle sales to the restaurants. ‘We know It won’t be easy selling through Retail to start with because of the seemingly high prices,’ he admits. Queries from Seattle, where there are affluent Indian techies working for Microsoft and Boeing etc., who have indicated a strong desire to add his wines to their wine portfolio, might take him there next. California may follow but after New York, KRSMA may enter the Delhi and Goa markets.
Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Chardonnay 2013, Sangiovese 2012 and the flagship wine, Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 have been launched now. A limited quantity of the Cabernet Sauvignon has also been launched in Magnums. Priced at Rs.3250 a bottle, the magnums were flowing freely at the classy and elegant dinner attended by men in black-tie and women in their formal best. Arora had taken the ‘Seventh Amendment’ (the journalists are waived off such formal dress codes) and also to make a statement that super premium Indian wines can be enjoyed without being in any formal attire.
Recognizing the important role played by the Grover family and Rajeev Samant in pioneering the wine culture promotion in India and bringing in quality wines made from wine grapes, Krishna clarified that they were not in the market to compete with anyone and had no intention of going beyond the boutique status. But he did emphasise that they would definitely aspire to make the best super-premium wines in India. In fact, he admitted that it was a continuous learning process and perhaps they made a few mistakes as they went along.
A fan of Bordeaux and California Cabernet, he is also a collector of fine wines and admitted that he had recently been attracted to Burgundy wines. He had earlier showcased his wines at the World Wine Symposium in Villa d’Este, Italy last year where wine experts from different countries congregate every November. The response had been very good and encouraging.
Earlier in the day, there had been a formal tasting of wines than included 2 Sauvignons (2012 and 2013) and 2 Cabernets (2011 and 2012) besides the Chardonnay and Sangiovese, where several sommeliers, professionals and journalists were present to taste a range of the wines and even compare the effect of vintages and the changing styles.
 Although opinions varied on which were the best wines in the lot, it was accepted by the great majority that the Chardonnay was a beautiful wine even though a bit expensive at Rs. 1000. This is even more creditable because as Krishna put it, this variety of grape is very stressed at the vineyard and the yields are very low. However, the wine was dry, crisp and fruity with a good concentration and minerality, medium bodied and well structured and expressed the purity of the grape extremely well.
Sangiovese 2012 was liked by many but was not my favourite. It is a very difficult grape to grow outside Tuscany and being the first vintage, it showed a lack of balance and integration to me. However, it paired quite well with the course at the dinner in the evening.
Cabernet Sauvignon is truly a wine with substance. Although still quite young (it will drink better in 2 years and will perhaps age for another 5 years or more) it showed a good balance and ripe tannins with a red berry fruit compote in the flavour and a wonderfully seductive bouquet that quality Cabernets display. It was amazing to find the perfect harmony with the morel main dish with Cabernet Sauvignon 2011- unfortunately the only little piece of morel in the dish was tasted away with the first sip only. The rest of the dish was all potatoes and cheese (paneer actually) that struggled to keep pace with the wine but lost out in the third sip. In general, Executive Chef Jolly and his team did a wonderful job-serving hot pre-plated food in synchronization to a hundred guests- never an easy task. But the wait staff carried it out very deftly with a commendable wine service too.
 One common thread among all the KRSMA wines has been consistently good quality. All the wines are clean, fresh and offer a pure expression of the grape varieties that grow in that particular soil-full of schist, red soil and undulating slopes. Krishna says they would not blend their grapes; neither would they expand the varieties much in future but stick to the few varieties only.
But as Doubting Thomases would point out, it needs to be seen how the wines travel to the consumers and with the kind of storage one sees at the Retail shops, it would be interesting to see how they would behave in real time. Then there is the issue of price raised by many - it is a moot point whether enough people would be willing to spend Rs.3250 for a magnum or Rs. 1000 a bottle of Chardonnay for a white wine which I believe beats any imported Chardonnay in that price range. The equally imported phase of the business, marketing, has just begun after the Launch.
But for the moment, KRSMA came out as KHAS ADMI at the Launch and ready to roll in Karnataka.
For an earlier article on my visit to KRSMA Estate winery, please visit KRSMA Wine Estate ready to Launch in Bangalore
For an interview with Krishna and Uma whom I met first in Italy at the World Wine Symposium last November, you may want to check out KRSMA - The Marathon Wine Couple
Subhash Arora
Voluntary Disclosure- A wonderful hospitality was accorded by Krsma Estate in exchange for 2 days of my time-editor
Tags: KRSMA Estate, Krishna Prasad, Uma Chigurupati |